The free guide I mention in the end of the video can be found right here.

Are you curious about what the recovery process looks like if you keep relapsing every now and then while trying to heal your brain from porn use?

In other words, can you heal your brain from a porn use even with intermittent relapses sprinkled in here and there?

Well, let's talk about it...

Porn Addiction & Intermittent Relapses

Can you heal your brain on NoFap even if you keep relapsing about twice a month?

Scandinavian Bob here, hi.

As someone who has been involved in the porn addiction community for 12 years now, I get a lot of questions about relapses and the recovery progress.

So, today we're going to discuss whether you can still heal if you relapse about two times a month or something close to that.

Now, first of all we need to understand that guys do NoFap for many different reasons. And some people like to use the term “NoFap” when they actually mean semen retention.

If you have no history of porn use, to speak of, you have nothing to heal from...

And listen up here, if you are just doing NoFap in order to retain and you have no history of porn use or being addicted to porn, and you otherwise live a very healthy life, then you have nothing to heal from. 

Even if you release a couple of times a month without using porn then, sure you might lose a tiny bit of the energy increase people notice that they are building up on a streak of retention.

But that energy will be back in just a few days after your release. So, we can’t even use the word ‘heal’ in your case. 

Semen retention with two ejaculations per month...

So in short, of course you can experience massive benefits even if you relapse a couple of times a month if you’re not addicted to porn. 

In fact,  I sometimes do retention in cycles and release about once every second week (without porn of course), and then I don’t even call that a relapse because it was a planned cycle. 

Now, what about if you have been using porn on a regular basis in your previous years?

Not fully addicted - but still history of porn use...

You see, regular porn use can alter your brain a bit even if you’re not addicted to it AND especially if you have a real porn addiction then it has altered several things inside your brain.

So let’s start with the scenario if you have just been using porn in moderation and you don’t think you are addicted to it. 

Then I would say, yes, you will reap benefits of doing NoFap even if you happen to slip twice a month, but you would probably NOT get to 100% optimal results.

You will see improvements...

Especially not if those relapses are several hour binges.

So the short answer, if you go from, say using 3 short porn sessions per week, to only relapsing twice a month, and you’re not a full blown addict, you will definitely see some good improvements. 

Check this out...

One study took a look at whether abstaining from adult sites for three weeks would improve the skill of postponing gratification...

** See video at the top for study **

Now, these guys were probably not addicted to porn, or then then some of them only had a very mild addiction, but the point here is that it was a three week study, and if you relapse twice a month, and your not addicted, you won’t get the full package we're after, not those 100% benefits.

What if you have a real porn addiction and you relapse twice a month?

Now, what about if you truly are addicted to porn?

Well now it gets a bit more complicated because there are several brain changes that happen when you develop a real addiction.

But if you go from relapsing say 3 - 4 times a week to only relapsing twice a month your dopamine system will actually upregulate a bit, so you are making progress. So you should be really proud about that and you are on your way.

It's not good enough...

But, with two relapses a month, unfortunately you are still way below the average, optimal functioning dopamine system. 

In fact, the addiction expert Anna Lembke says in her great book Dopamine Nation, that two weeks after quitting an addiction, the dopamine levels are still painfully below average. 

Two weeks after quitting your dopamine levels are still below average...

And so now some of you say, ok but what kind of an addiction are we speaking about there. 

Well you have to remember now that, all addiction, no matter what you are addicted to, shares these 4 fundamental brain changes… 

• Desensitization
• Sensitization
• Hypofrontality
• Malfunctioning stress system

And right now we are talking about your dopamine system and the desensitization of brain change.

So, if you then relapse twice a month, or there about, you might be a bit better off from your previous life, but it’s still far from feeling good.

You can not heal a porn addiction with biweekly relapses...

And here we can actually use the word heal and say, no, you will not fully heal your dopamine system if you’re addicted and you have a pretty heavy relapse twice a month.

Although you might be upregulating a little bit compared to how you were doing back when you were a heavy user.  

Sensitized porn pathways...

But then we have the “sensitization” part, which basically means “a super. memory of pleasure”. 

Yes, sensitization is what gives you those powerful urges to use your drug of choice. 

This one is even worse, and won’t heal at all if you keep using it twice a month. 

Let’s put it like this, do you think an alcoholic would get rid of his strongest alcohol cravings if he binged on vodka twice a month?

No, unfortunately that doesn't happen.

And it’s the same with porn addiction.

Intermittent porn use may actually make the addiction stronger....

In fact, intermittent use may actually make the sensitized pathways stronger. As you are basically teaching your brain to not fully let go of the addiction, and that all the brain has to do to get its fix is to give you powerful cravings and you will give in every second week or so.

Sensitization is perhaps the biggest part of an addiction, so to sum it up here one could really say that: no, if you are a heavy porn addict you will not heal your addiction if you keep using twice a month. 

And that is not something I like to say, but I have to give you guys the honest truth. 

What about porn induced ED (PIED) and intermittent relapsing?

And so what about PIED?

Can you heal your PIED if you keep using it twice a month?

Wello believe it or not, I have actually seen maybe two or three guys recover from their PIED even with some relapses here and there, about 1 to 2 times a month, but I have to say at least 99% of guys with PIED will have to do better than that if they want to become fully functional again. 

Unfortunately, again, it's not good enough...

For the vast majority of guys, two week streaks are just not enough to heal your brain if you have PIED. 

A pretty big number can recover their PIED within 90 days though, and even more have recovered by the fourth and fifth month mark.

Ok, so I hope this answered some of your questions.

Feeling stuck? You can transform your life in 13 weeks OR LESS by Downloading my FREE guide below...

Consider subscribing for more videos like this, and if you need help with staying away from porn, and you haven't already then make sure to grab my 90 Day No PMO Advice & Tool Guide That You can see on the screen right above.

And to learn more about the 4 addiction related brain changes, I highly recommend you take a look at the video you can see on the screen right here.

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